


how the hargreeves kids learned sign language and saved the day

by thisdesksetwantstofly



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: American Sign Language, Do it, No Incest, Ok bye, Sibling Fluff, absolutely no angst let them be happy, coward - Freeform, fuck you, idk why i'm just like, jk love you, klaus knows all of the languages lemme have this, learn asl, my linguist ass has to push the language agenda on everyone and everything, strop being gross, yelling at you guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:08:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23216776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisdesksetwantstofly/pseuds/thisdesksetwantstofly
Summary: everything would have been fine at the end of s1 if some of them could communicate with allison while she had her vocal chords cut, so my headcanon is that allison, vanya, ben, and klaus all learned asl when they were little for various reasons and had a little sign language club :) 🤟idk if i'll ever add on to this story but if not here is the background of it hope it makes someone smile!
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 6
Kudos: 96





	how the hargreeves kids learned sign language and saved the day

one would think for all the time the hargreeves children spent at home, what with all of their private tutors and seemingly infinite library, they would have been taught various languages other than english. but alas, reginald hargreeves did not seem to think linguistics were a necessary part of the children’s education. he spent his time on more important things: how to strangle enemies, where to punch, and the most effective way to kill someone. just average things every child learns.

however, several of the children, for whatever reason they had, started learning a language on their own: american sign language.

for klaus, it wasn’t really a choice. the ghosts plagued him constantly, ever since he was a baby. they never shut up. always screaming and calling his name, begging for him to help them. then there were some ghosts that didn’t scream at him, and instead, spoke with their hands. klaus’s life had always been so loud, so he was transfixed by the way these ghosts wouldn’t make a sound. they would express everything they needed to say simply with their faces and hands. this was such a change for klaus, and while these ghosts were still scary, they needed his help. eventually, after years of various Deaf spirits sticking around, klaus was pretty proficient in asl. he hadn’t done it on purpose, necessarily, but he wasn’t mad about it.

ben learned it from klaus. simple enough. they wanted to communicate in a language that was just their own. 

vanya, what with all of the free time on her hands while her siblings were on missions, found several books in her father’s library that mentioned asl, for one reason or another. she expressed her interest to five, who had no interest of his own, but he offered to pop into a library and grab her one. she told him he could if it wouldn’t be a bother. two minutes later, he was carrying a bag of 8 books on asl. he gave the books to vanya, and that was the last they ever spoke of it. but vanya read and reread all of those books. for such a quiet girl, it was nice to picture communicating without speaking.

allison walked in on vanya one day, signing to herself. when vanya turned around and saw her, she looked terrified, like she had been caught doing something wrong.

“it’s okay, vanya,” allison said gently, walking into vanya’s room and plopping down next to her. “what are you doing?” 

“i’m... it’s sign language,” came vanya’s soft voice.

“sign language? it’s a language? but you weren’t speaking?”

vanya shook her head. “it’s a language with your hands. look i’ll show you.”

and from then on, the sisters would get together once a day and practice signing together. a language just they could understand. or so they thought, until they walked past ben and klaus signing to each other in klaus’s room.

**ben, i get it, every time you read a book about sea creatures you get offended because of your tentacle fetish, that doesn’t mean i want to hear about it!** klaus signed.

**dude, it’s not a fetish, you know i hate when you say that. i just don’t like reading about octopuses or octopi or octopedes or whatever. it just reminds me of Them, and whenever i think of them too much, i can feel them.**

**you mean your bentacles?** klaus asked, not in the mood to be serious.

ben glared at him.

allison cleared her throat at the door.

the two boys whipped around and stared at the girls, surprised.

“how long have you guys been there?” ben asked.

allison smirked. “long enough to see you guys talking about the bentacles.”

“oh come on!” ben groaned.

“wait...” klaus said, “how do you guys know what we were saying? does someone have a mind-reading power i don’t know about? wait... can we change our powers? i call dibs on changing my power. man, i’m gonna be invisible and sneak into clubs i’m too young for! steal some drinks, watch some guys making out... maybe girls... maybe both! maybe an orgy!”

“klaus!” ben yelled, snapping in his face. “stay focused!”

klaus nodded. “right, sorry. serious business. do you guys, like... know asl or something?”

**yes** , allison and vanya both signed.

klaus and ben looked at each other, eyes wide.

**well, shit** , klaus signed. **we thought it was like... our secret language.**

allison and vanya laughed. **we thought the same thing!** vanya signed.

and so the secret signers' society was formed. secret, because none of them ever once mentioned it to another sibling, and definitely not to their father. allison didn’t even tell luther, which surprised everyone, but she assured them that she was her own person outside of luther and she could have her own secrets. besides, if anyone did find out, she could rumour them into forgetting.

eventually, one by one, as everyone left the house, the little club disbanded. they all went off to do their own things, lost touch, and never spoke of it again. 

until it came in handy, that is.


End file.
